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TO THE PEOPLE 



CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 



COMPOSED OF THB 



COUNTIES OF FAYETTE, WOODFORD, and CLARKE, 



IN KENTUCKY. 



Jl J i. 



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'■ OO^ — 



To the people of the Congressional District com' 
posed of the Counties of Fayette, Woodford, and 
Clarke, in Kentucky. 

The relations of your representative and of your neigh- 
bour in which I have so long stood, and in which I have 
experienced so many strong proofs of your confidence, at- 
tachment and friendship, having just been, the one termi- 
nated, and the other suspended, I avail myself of the oc- 
casion on taliing, I hope a temporary, leave of you, to ex- 
press my unfeigned gratitude for all your favours, and to 
assuieyou (hat I shall cherish a fond and unceasing recol- 
lection o them. The extraordinary circumstances in which, 
during the late session of Congress, I have been placed, 
and the unmerited animadversions which I have brought up- 
on niyselt, for an honest and faithful discharge of my pub- 
lic duty, form an additional motive for this appeal to your 
candour and justice If, in the office which I have just left, 
I have abused your confidence and betrayed your interests, 
I cannot deserve your support in that on the duties of whicli 
I have now entered. On the contrary, shoulil it appear 
tiiat I have been assailed without just cause, and that mis- 
STuided xeal and interested p;jssions have singled me nut as 
a victim, I cannot doubt that 1 shall continue to find, in the 



enlightened tribunal of the public, that cheering counte- 
nance and impartial judgment, without which a public ser- 
vant cannot possibly discharge with advantage the trust 
confided to him. 

It is known to you, that my name had been presented, by 
the respectable stales of Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana and 
JMissouri, for the office of President, to the consideration of 
the American public, and that it had attracted some at- 
tention in other quarters of the Union. When, early in 
Jfovemher last, I took my departure from tlie district to re- 
pair to this city, the issue of the Presidential election be- 
fore the people was unknown. Events, however, had then 
so far transpired as to render it highly probable that there 
would be no election by the people, and that J should be ex- 
r.ludedirom the House of Representatives. It became, there- 
fore, my duly to consider, and to make up an opinion on, the 
i'especiive pretensions of lire three gentlemen that might be 
returned, and at that early period I stated to Dr. Drake, 
one (jf the Professors in tiie Medical School of Transylva- 
nia University, and to John J. Crittenden, Esq. of Frank- 
fort, my determination to support Mr. Adams in preference 
to Gen. Jackson. I wrote to Charles Hammond, Esq. of 
Cincinnati, about the same time, and mentioned certain 
objections to the election of Mr Crawford, (among which 
was that of his continued ill health,) that appeared to me 
almost insuperable. During my journey hither, and up to 
near Christmas, it remained uncertain whetlier Mr. Craw- 
ford or I would be relurneil to the House of Representatives. 
Up to near Christmas, all our information made it highly 
probable that the vote of Louisiana would be given to me, 
and thai 1 should consequently be returned, to the exclu- 
sion of Mr. Crawford. And, whilst that probability was 
strong, I communicated to Mr. Senator Johnston, from 
Louisiana my resolution not to allow my name, in conse- 
•juence of tlie small number of votes by which it would be 



cnrricJ into Ihe House, if I were returnee), to constitute an 
obstacle, for one moment, to an election in liie House of 
Representatives. 

During tlie montli of December, and tlie greater part of 
Jnnuary, strong professions of liigh consideration, and of 
unbounded admiration of me, were made to my friends, in 
tlie greatest profusion, by some of tlie active friends of all 
Ihc returned candidates. Every body professed to regret, 
after I was excluded from the House, that 1 had not been 
returned to it. I seemed to be the favourite of every body. 
Describing my situation to a distant friend, I said to him, 
" I am enjoying, whilst alive, the pnsthun.ous honors which 
are usually awarded to the venerated dead." A person not 
acquainted with human nature would have been surprised, 
in listening to these praises, that the object of them had not 
been elected by general acclamation. None made mote or 
warmer manifestations of these sentiments of esteem and 
admiration, than some of the friends of General Jackson. 
None were So reserved as those of Mr. Adams; under an 
opinion, fas 1 have learnt since the election,) which they 
early nubibed, that the western vote would be only influ- 
enced by its own sense of public duty ; and that if its judg- 
ment pointed to any other than iMr. Adams, nothing which 
they could do would secure it to him. These professions 
and manifestations were taken by me for what they were 
worth. 1 knew that the sunbeams would quickly disappear, 
after my opinion should be ascertained, aiid that they would 
be succeeded by a storm ; although I did not foresee ex« 
aclly how it would burst upon my poor head. I found my- 
self transformed from a candidate before the people, into 
an elector for the people. I deliberately examined the du- 
ties incident to this new allitude,and weighed all the facts 
before me, upon which my judgment was to be formed or 
reviewed. If the eagerness of any of the heated partisans 
of the respective candidates suggested a tardiness in the 

H 



declarallon of my iiitenlion, I believed lliat the new rela- 
tion, in which I was placed to the subject, imposed on me 
an obligation to pay some respect to delicacy and decorum. 
Meanwhile that very reserve supplied aliment to news- 
paper criticism The critics could not comprehend how a 
man, standing as I had stood towards the other gentlemen, 
should be restrained, by a sense of propriety, from instant- 
ly fighting under the banners of one of them, against the 
otheis. Letters were issued from the manufactory 
atWashington,to come back, after performing lung journeys, 
tor Washington consumption. These letters imputed to 
"Mr. Clay and his friends a mysterious air, a portentous 
silence," &o. From dark and distant hints the progiess 
was easy to open and bitter denunciation. .Anonymous 
letters, full of menace and abuse, were almost daily poured 
in on me. Personal threats were communicated to me, 
through friendly organs, and I was kindly apprised of all the 
glOiies of village effigies which awaited me. A systematic 
attack was simultaneously commenced upon nie from Bos- 
ton to Charleston, with an object, present and future, which 
it was impossible to mistake. No mar. but myself cniild 
know the nature, extent, and variety of means which were 
employed to awe and influence me. I bore them, I trust, 
as your representative ought to have borne them, and as 
became me Then followed the letter, afterwards adopted 
as his own by Mr. Krtmer, to the Columbian Observer — 
With its character and contents you are well acquainted. 
When I saw that letter, alleged to be written by a member 
of the very House over which I was presiding , who was so 
far designated as to he described as belonging tn a [jarticu- 
lar delegation, by name, a member with whom I mijiht be 
daily e.xchangiiig, at least on my part, friendly salutations, 
and who was possibly receiving from me con«tanl'y acts of 
co^^•tesy ami kindness, 1 felt that 1 could no longer remain 
silent. ,\ crisis appeared to me to have arisen in my public 
life, I issued my card. I ought not to have put in it the 



last paragraph, because, although It does nor necessarily im- 
ply the resort to a (lersona! combai, it admits uf that con- 
;triietioii; nor will 1 coixeiil that such a posMble issue was 
witliiu my roiitentiplalion. I owe it to the coinn)uni„y to 
say. that whatever heretofore I may have done, or, by ine- 
vitable circumstances, might be forced to do, no man in it 
"holds iii deeper abhorrence than I do, thai pernicious prac- 
tice. Condemned as it must be by the jiidsmcnt and phi- 
loso|)hy, to say nothing of the religion, of evei y thinking 
man, it is an alTair of feeling about which we cannot, al- 
though we shoulil, reason. Us true collective will bt- fnnnd 
when all .shall unite, as all coiilit to unite, in its nnqualilied 
pro-^cription. 

A few days after the publicatioa of my Card, " Another 
Card,'' under Mr. Kienicr's name, was published in ihe 
Intelligencer. The night before; as I was voluntarily in- 
forni'-d, .Mr. Eaton, a Senator from Tennessee, and Ihp 
Biogiiipher of Gen. Jackson (who boarded in the end of 
tills city nppnsite to that in which Mr. Kienier took up his 
aboili', -1 distance of about two miles and an half) was clo- 
seted for some lime with him. Mr. Kremer is entitled to 
great credit for hivino overcome all the disadvantages, in- 
cidmt to his early life and want of education, and forced 
his way to the honourable station of a member uf the House 
of Representatives. Ardent In his attachment to the cause 
which he had espoused. Gen. .lackson is his idol, and uf his- 
blind zeal others have availed themselves, and have made 
him their dupe and their instrument I do not pretend to 
know the object of Mr. Eaton's visit to him. I sti.ii' the 
fact, as It was communicatf d to me, and leave you lojiidjie. 
Mr. Kremer'scard is composed with some care and no Hi- 
de art. and he is made to avow in it, thoujih somewhat 
equivocally, that he is tlie author of the letter to the Co- 
lumbian Observer. To Mr. Cinwninshirld, a member from 
-Massachusetts, formerly Sccietary of the Navy, he declared 
•liat he was not the author of that letter. In his Card, he 



draws a dear line of separation betwepn my friends and 
nie, acquitting then), and undertaking to m?.ke good his 
charges, in that letter, only so far as I was coneerned. The 
purpose of litis discrimination is obvious. At that time the 
election was undecided, and it was therefore as impoUanl 
to abstain from imputations against my friends, as it was 
politic to fix them upon me. If they could be made to be- 
lieve that I iiad been perfidious, in the transport of their in- 
dignation, they miglil have been carried to the support of 
Gen. Jackson. I received the National Intelligencer, con- 
taining Mr. Kremer's card, at breakfast, (the usual time 
of its distribution,) on the morning of its publication. As 
soon as I read the card, I look my resolution. The terms 
of it clearly implied tliat it had not entered into his con- 
ception to have a personal afiair with me; andlsliould 
have justly exposed myself to universal ridicule, if I had 
sought one with him. I determined to lay the matter before 
the House and respectfully to invite an investigation of mv 
conduct. I accordingly made a communication to the 
House, on the same day, the motives lor which I assigned. 
Mr. Krenier was in his place, and, when I sal down, rose 
and stated that he was prepared and willing to substanti- 
ate his charges against me. This was his voluntary de- 
claration, unprompted by his aiders and abettors, who had 
no opportunity of previous consultation with him on that 
point. Here was an issue publicly anu solemnly joined, 
in which the accused invoked an inquiry into serious 
charges against him, and the accuser professed an ability 
and a willingness to establish them. A debate ensued, on 
the next day, wliich occupied the greater p;irt of it, dur- 
ing which ^Jr. Krenier declared to Mr. Brent, of Louisiana, 
a friend of mine, and to Mr. Little, of Maryland, a friend 
of Gen. JacVson, as tliey have certified, " that he never in- 
tended to charge Mr. Clay with corruption or dishonor, in 
liis intended vote for Wr, Adams as President, or that he 



"% 



bad transfered, orcftiiltl transfer, the votes or intevest oTiiia 
frioiuis ; that ho. (Mr. KiPiner) was among the last men in 
ihe nation to make sucli a charjfe against Jlr. Clay ; and 
that his letter was never intended to convey the idea liiven 
to it/' Mr. Digses, a highly reepeetable inhabitant of this 
cily, has certified to the same declarations of Mr. Kremer. 
A message was also conveyed to me, during the discus- 
sion?, through a member of the House, to ascertain if I 
would be satisfied with an explanation which was put on 
paper and shown me, and which it was slated Mr. Kremer 
was willing, in his place, to make. I replied tliat the mat- 
ter was iu the possession of (he House. I was afterwards 
told that Mr, Ingham, of Pennsylvania, got hold of that 
paper, put it in his pocket, and that lie advised Mr. Kiemer 
to take no step without the approbation oi his friends. Mr. 
Cook, of Illinois, moved an adjournment of the House, on 
information whicli he received of the probability of Mr, 
K.'s making a satisfactory alonemenl, on the nest day, 
for the injury which he had done me, which I have no 
doubt he would have made, if be had been left to the im- 
pulses of his native honesty. The House decided to refer 
my communication to a comntillee, and adjourned until the 
next day to appoint it by ballot. In the mean time Mr. 
Kremer had taken, 1 presume, or rather there had been 
forced upon hini, the advice of his fripnds, and I heard no 
move of the apology, A committee was appointed of seven 
gentlemen, of whom not one was my political friend, but 
who were among the most eminent members of the body. 
I received no summons or notification from the committee 
from its first organization to its final dissolution, but Mr. Kre- 
mer was called upon by it to bring forward his proofs. For 
one moment be pleased to stop here and contemplate his 
posture, his relation to the House and to nie, and the high 
obligations under which he had voluntarily placed himself. 
He was a member of one of tlie must au;'ust assemblies 



10 

upon carlli, of which he was bound to defend the purity, m 
expose the corriiplion, by every consideration ^vhich ought 
to influence a patriot bosom. A most responsible and high- 
ly important constitutional duty was to be performed by 
that assembly. He had chosen, in an anonymous letter, to 
bring against its presiding officer charges, in respect to that 
duly, of the most flagitious character. These charges com- 
prehended delegations from several highly respectable 
states. If true, that presiding officer merited not merely to 
be dragged from the chair, but to be expelled the House. — 
He challenges an investigation into his conduct, and Mr. 
Kremer boldly accepts the challenge, and promises to sus- 
tain his accusation. The committee, appointed by the 
■ House itself, with the common consent of both parties, 
calls upon Mr. Kremer to execute his pledge, publiidy given 
in his proper place, and also previously given in the public 
prints. Here is the theatre of the alleged arrangements ; 
this the vicinage in which the trial ought to take place. — 
Every thing was here fresh in the recollection of the wit- 
nesses, if there were any. Here all the proofs were con- 
centrated. Mr. Krc.nrer was stimulated by every motive 
which could impel to action , by consistency of charac- 
ter ; by duty to his constituents — to his country ; by that 
of redeeming his solemn pled^^e ; by his anxious wish for 
the success of his favourite, whose interests could not fail 
to be advanced by supporting his atroiocus charges. But 
Mr. Kremer had now the benefit of the advice of his 
friends. He had no proofs, for the plainest of all reasons, 
because there was no truth in his charges. They saw that 
■'to attempt to establish them, and to fail, as he must fail, 
in the attempt, might lead to an exposure of the conspira- 
cy, of what he was the organ. They advised therefore that 
he should make a retreat, and their adroitness suggested 
that, in an objection to that jurisdiction of the House, which 
had been admitted, and in the popular topics of the free- 



11 

«iora of the press, his iluty to his constituents, and ilic iiie- 
yualty in the conduioti ol tiu! Speaker of the House and 
a member on the floor, plausible means might be found to 
deceive the ignorant, and conceal his disgrace. A laboured 
communication was accordingly prepared by them, in Mr. 
Kremer's name, and transmitted to the committee, founded 
upon those suggestions. Thus the valiant champion, who 
had boldly stepped forward, and promised, as a Represen." 
lative of Ihr people, to " cry aloud and spare not." forgot 
all his gratuitous gallantry and boasted patriotism, and 
sunk HI once into profound silence. 

With these remarks, I will, for the present, leave him, 
and proceed to assign the reasons to you, to whom alone 
I admit myself to be officially responsible, for the vote 
which I gave on the Presidential election. The first inqui- 
ry which it behoved me to make was, as to the influence 
which ought to be exerted on my judgment, by the rela- 
tive state of the electoral votes which the three returned 
candidates brought into the Housr, from the colleges. Gen- 
eral Jackson obtained 99, Mr Adams 34, and Mr. Craw- 
ford 41. Ought the fact of a plurality being given to one 
of the candidates to have any. and what, weiifht .' If the 
Constitution had rntended that it simuld have been deci- 
sive, the Constitution would have made it decisive, and 
interdicted the exercise of any discretion on the part of the 
House of Representatives. The Constitution has not so or- 
dained, but, on the contrary, it has provided, that " from 
the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, 
on the list of those voted for as President, the H. of Repre- 
sentatives shall choose, immediately, by ballot, a President." 
Thus, a discretion is necessarilv invested in the House ; 

for choice implies examination, comparison, judgment. 

The fact, therefore, that one of the three persons was the 
highest returned, not being, by the constitution of the coun- 
try, conclusive upon the judgment of the House, it still re- 



12 

niniiis to tietennlne what is the true degree of weight be- 
longing to it ? It has been contended that il slinulH operate, 
if not as an instruction, at least in the nature of one, ani 
llu.t in tliis form it should control the judgment of the 
House. But this is the same argument of conclusiveness, 
which the constitution does not enjoin, thrown into a dif- 
ferent, but more imposing shape. Let me ana'yze it. — 
There are cerlaiii St:iles, the aggregate of whose electoral 
votes conferred upon the highest returned candidate, indi- 
cates their wish that he should be the President. Their 
votes amount in number to 99, out of the 261 electoral 
volesof the whole Union. These 99 do not, and cannot, of 
themselves, make the President. If the fact of particular 
states giving 99 voles can, according to any received no- 
tions of the doctrine of instruction, be regarded in that 
Ji"ht, to whom are those instructions to be considered ad- 
dressed i* According to that finctrine, tlie people, who ap- 
point, have the right to direct, by their instructionE, in cer- 
tain cases, the course of the representative whom they ap- 
point. The States, therefore, who gave those 99 votes 
nray, in some sense, be undei^tood thereby to have instruct- 
ed thiij representatives in the House to vote for the per- 
son on whom they wete bestowed, in the choice of a Presi- 
dent. But most clearly the representatives coming from 
other states, which gave no part of those 99 voles, cannot 
be considered as having been under an}' obligation lo sur- 
render their judgments to those of the Stales which gave 
the 99 voles. To contend that they are under such an 
obligation, would be to maintain that the people of one 
state have the right to instruct the representatives from 
another state. It would be to maintain a still more absurd 
proposition, that, in a case where the representatives from 
a state did not hold themselves instructed and bound by the 
will of that state, as indicated iir its electoral college, the 
representatives from another state were, neverthless, in- 



13 

sliucled and boiinJ by that alien will. Thus, the eiuite 
vote of North-Carolina, and a large majority of that of 
Maryland, in their respective electoral colleges, were gi- 
ven to one of the three returned candidates, for 

whom the delegation from neither of those states voted. 

And yet the arginnent combatted requires that the delega- 
tion from Kentucky, who do not represent the people of 
Nortli-Carolina nor Maryland, should be instructed by, 
and give an eft'ect to, the indicated will of the people of those 
two states, when their own delegation paid no attention to 
it. Doubtless, those delegations felt themselves authorized 
to look into the actual composition of, and all other cir- 
cumstances connected with, the majorities which gave the 
■electoral votes, in their respective states ; and felt their<- 
selves justified, from a view of the whole ground, to act up- 
on their responsibility and according to their best jude- 
iiients, disregarding fhe electoral votes in their stales. Aud 
are the representatives from a different state not only bound 
by the will of the people of a different commonwealth, but 
forbidden to examine into the manner by which the ex- 
pression of that will was brought about — an examination 
which the immediate representatives themselves feel it their 
duty to make? 

Is the fact, then, of a plurality to have no weight ? Far 
from it. Here are 24 communities, united under a common 
government. The expression of the will of any one of them 
is entitled to the most respectlul attention. It ou^ht to be 
patiently heard and kindly regarded by the others; but it 
cannot be admitted to be conclusive upon them. The ex- 
pressioti of the will of 99 out of 261 electors is entitled to 
very great attention, but that will cannot be considered as 
entitled to control the will of the 162 electors, who have 
manifested a different will. To give it such controlling in- 
fluence, would be a subversion of the fundamental maxim 
of the Republic— that the majority should govern. The 



14 

will of the 99 can neither be allowed rightfully to control 
the remaining 162, nor any one of the 162 electoral votes. 
It may be an argument, a persuasion, addressed to all, and 
to each of them, but it is binding and obligatory upon none. 
It follows, then, that the fact of a plurality was only one 
among the various considerations which the House was 
called upon to weigh, in making up its judgment. And the 
weight of the consideration ought to have been regulated 
by the extent of the plurality. As between General Jack- 
son and Mr. Adams, the vote standing in the proportions 
of 99 to 84, it was entitled to less weight ; as between the 
General and Mr. Crawford it was entitled to more, the vote 
being as 99 to 41. The concession may even be made that, 
i.pon the supposition of an equality of pretensions between 
competing candidates, the preponderance ought to be gi- 
ven to the fact of a plurality. 

With these views of the relative state of the vote, with 
which the three returned candidates entered the House, I 
proceeded to examine the other considerations which be- 
longed to the question. For Mr. Crawford, wlio barely en- 
jered the House, with only four votes more than one can- 
didate not returned, and upon whose case, therefore, the 
argument derived from the fact of plurality, operated with 
strong, though not decisive force, I have ever felt much 
personal regard. But I was called upon to perform a solemn 
public duty, in which my private feelings, whether of affec- 
tion or aversion, were not tu be indulged, but the good of my 
country only consulted. It appeared to me that the pre- 
carious state of that gentleman's health, allhoi/gh 1 partici- 
pated with his best fiiends, in all their regrets and sympa- 
thies, on account of it, was conclusive against him, to say 
nothing of other considerations of a public nature which 
would have deserved examination, if, happily, in that res- 
pect, he had been differently circumstanced. He had been 
ill near eigliteen months ; and although 1 am aware that 



15 

his actual condition was a fact dcpentliiig upon eiiidenee, 
and that the evidpnce in rcgar.l to it, which had been pre- 
senttd to the public, was not perfectly harmonious, I judg- 
ed for myself upon what I saw and heard.- He may, and 
I ardently hope, will, recover ; but I did not thiols it be- 
came me to assist in committing tlie Executive administra- 
tion of this great Republic on the doubtful contingency of 
the restoration to health of a gentleman who had been so 
long and so seriously afflicted. Moreover, if, under all the 
circumstances of his situation, his election had been desira- 
ble, I did not think it practicable. I believed, and yet be- 
lieve, that if the votes of the Western States, given to Mr. 
Adams, had been conferred on Mr. Crawford, the effect 
would have been to protract in the House the decision of 
the contest, to the great agitation and distraction of the 
country, and, possibly, to defeat an election altogether — 
the very worst result, I thought, that could happen. It ap- 
peared to me then, that sooner or later we njust arrive at 
the only practical issue of the contest before us, and that 
was between Mr. .\dams and General Jackson, and I 
thought that the earlier we got there, the better for the 
countiy and for the House. 

In considering lliis only alternative, I was not unaware 
of your strong desire to liave a Western Prcsideul; but I 
thought that 1 knew enough of your patriotism, and mag- 
nanimity, displayed on so many occasions, to believe that 
you could rise above the mere gratification of sectional 
pride, if the common good of the whole required yon to 
make the sacrifice of local partiality. I solemnly believed it 
did, and this brings me to the most important considera- 
lion which belonged to the whole subject— that arising out 
of the res|)eclive fitness of the only two real competitors, 
as it Sjipeared to my best judgment. In speaking of Gen. 
.lackson, I am aware of (he delicacy and respect which 
aj-e justly due to that dislinguis-heU citizen. It is far from 



my purpose to al^empt to liisparape him. 1 could not <Ib 
i( if I were capable of loaking the attempt ; but I shall ne- 
vertheles': speak of hini as becomes me, with truth I did 
not believe him so competent to discharge the various, in- 
tricate, and complex duties of the office of Chief Magis- 
trate, as his compeliior. He has displayed great skill and 
bravery as a military commander ; and his renown will 
onJure as long as the means exist of preserving a recol- 
lection of human transactions. But to be qualified to dis- 
charge the duties of President of the United States, the in- 
cumbent must have more than mere military attainments 
— he must be a statesman. An individual may be a 
gallant and successful general, an eminent lawyer, an elo- 
quent divine, a learned physician, or an accomplished ar- 
tist ; and doubtless the union of all th< se characters in the 
person of a Chief Magistrate would he desirable ; but no 
one of them, nor all combined, will qualify him to be Pre- 
sident, unless he superadds that indispensable requisite of 
being a statesman. Far from meaning to say, that it is an 
objection to the elevation, to the chief magistracy, of any 
person, that he is a military commander, if he unites the 
other qualifications, 1 only intend to say that, whatever 
may be the success or splendor of his military achieve- 
ments, if his qualillcation bir onli/ military, that is an ob- 
jection, and I think a decisive objection to his election. If 
General Jackson has exhibited, either in the councils of 
the Union, or in those of his own state, or in those of any 
other state or territory, the qualities of a statesman, the 
evidence of the fact has escaped my observation. It 
WOQid be as painful as it is unnecessary to recapitulate 
some of the incidents, which must be fresh in your recol- 
lection, of his public life. But I was greatly deceived in 
my judgment if they proved him to be endowed with that 
prudence, temper, and discretion, which are necessary for 
civil administration. It was in vain to remind me of the 
illustrious example of Washington, There was, in that ex- 



^7 

^raordinary person, united a serenity of uiind, a cool and 
collecled wisdom, a cautious and tlelibeiaie judgment, a 
perfect coiiiinand of the |jassious, and throughout his whole 
life, a familiarity and acquaintance with business and civil 
transactions, which rarely characterize any human being. 
No man was ever more deeply penetrated than he was, with 
profound respect for the safe and necessary principle of 
the entire subordination of the military to the civil autho- 
rity 1 hope 1 do no injustice to General Jackson, whea 
! say, that I could not recognise, in his public conduct, 
those iitlainments for both civil government and military 
command, which cotemporaries and posterity have alike 
unanimously concurred in anardins as yet only to the fa- 
ther of his country. I was sensible of the gratitude whicU 
the people of this country justly feel towards Gen. Jack- 
son for his brilliant military services But the impulses of 
public gratitude should oe controled, it appeared tome, by 
rea.'ion and discretion, and I was not prepared blindly to 
sui render myself to the hazardous indulgence of a feeling, 
however amiable and excellent that feeling may be when 
properly directed. It did not seem to me to be wise oi* 
prudent, if, as I solemnly believed, General Jackson's com- 
ptteiicy for the office was highly questionable, that he 
should be placed in a situation where neither his fame nor 
the public interests would be advanced. General Jackson 
himself would be the last man to recommend or vote for 
any one for a place, for which he thought him unfit. I felt 
niysel' sustained by his own reasoning, in his letter to Mr, 
Monroe, in which, speaking of the qualifications of our 
venerable Shelby for the Department of War, he remark- 
ed : " 1 am compelled to say to you, that the acquire- 
ments of this worthy man are not competent to the dis- 
charije of the amltiplied duties of this Department. [ there- 
fbre hope he may not accept tl>e appointment. I am fear- 
ful, if he does, he will not add much splendor to his pre- 
sent well-earned standing as a public character." Such 

*2 



aas my opinion of General Jackson, in reference lo the 
Presidency. His convictions of Governor Shelby's unfit- 
ness, by the Ijabits of his life, lor the appointment of Se- 
cretary of War, were not more honest uor stronger than 
mine ivert of his own want ot experience, and the necessary 
civil qualifications to discharge the duties of a President of 
the United States, In his elevation to this oihce, too, I 
thought, I perceived the establishment of a fearful prece- 
dent; and I am mistaken in all the warnings of instructive 
history, if I erred in my judgment. Undoubtedly there 
are other and many dangers to public liberty, besides that 
which proceeds from military idolatry, but I have yet to 
acquire the knowledge of it, if there be one more perilous 
or mure frequent. 

Whether Mr. Adams would or would not have been my 
choice of a President, if I had been left freely to select 
from tire whole mass of American citizens, was not the 
question submitted to my decision, 1 had no such liberty: 
but I was circumscribed, iii the selection 1 had to make, to 
One of the three gentlemen, whom the people themselves 
had thought proper lo present to the House of Representa- 
tives. Whatever objections might be supposed to exist a- 
gainst him, still greater appeared to me to apply to his 
competitor. Of Mr. Adams, it is but truth and jus- 
tice to say, that he is highly gifted, profoundly learned, and 
long and gieatly experienced in public affairs, at home and 
abroad. Intimately conversapit with the rise and progress 
of every negotiation with foreign powers, pending or con- 
cluded; personally acquainted with tiie capacity and attain- 
ments of most of the public men of this country, whom it 
might be proper to employ in the public service ; exten- 
sively possessed of much of that valuable kind of informa- 
tion, which is 10 be acquired neither from books nor tradi- 
tion, but which is the fruit of largely participating in pub- 
lic affairs; discreet and sagacious; he would enter on the 
duties of the office with great advantages, I saw in bis 



19 

election the establishment of no dangerous exnmple. I 
saw in it, on tht- contrary, only conformity to the safe pre- 
cedents which bad been established in the instances of Mr, 
Jetterson, Mr. Madison, and Mr Monroe, who liad respec- 
tively tilled the same office from which he was to be trans- 
lated. 

A collateral consideration of mnch weisht was derived 
from the wishes of the Ohio delectation. A maiority of it, 
during the progress of the session, made np (heir opinions 
to support .Mr. Adams, and thiy were coniniunicaled to 
me. They said, " Ohio suppoited the landidate who was 
the choice of Kentucky. We failed in onr common exer- 
tions to secure his election. Now, among those returned, 
we have a decided preference, and we think you ought to 
make some sacrifice to gratify us." Was not much due to 
our ueiiihbour and friend ? 

I considered, wiib the greatest respect, the resolution of 
the General Assembly of Kentufky, requesting the delega- 
tion to >'ote for General Jackson That resolution, it is 
true, placed us in a peculiar situation. Whilst every other 
delegation, from every other st.ite in the Union, was left by 
its Legislature entirely free to examine the pretensions of 
all tiie candidates, and to form its unbiased judgment, the 
Geneial Assembly of Kentucky thought proper to inter- 
pose and to request the delegation to give its vote to one ofi 
the candidates, wh"m they were jileased to designate [ felt 
a sincere desire to comply with a request emanating from a 
source so respectable, if I could have done so consistenly 
with those paramount duties which I owed to you and to the 
ocuntry. But, after full and anxious consideration, I 
found it incompatible with my best judgment of those du- 
ties to conform to the request of the General Assembly. 
The resolution asserts, that it was the wish of the people 
of Kentucky, that their delegation should vote for 
the General. It did not inform me by what means (hat 
Ijody bad arrived at a knowledge of the wish of the people. 



20 

I knew tliat its members had repaired to FranVfoit before I 
departed fioiu home to come to Washiii?tori. I knew their 
their attention was fixed -m important looai concerns, well 
entitled, by their magnitude, exclusively to cngioss it No 
election, no general expression of the popnlai i-entimeut 
had occurred since that in November, when i-lertors were 
chosen, and at that the people, by an ovenvhelming majo- 
rity, had decided against General Jackson. 1 could not. see 
how such an expression against him, could be interpreted 
into that of a desire for his election. If, as is true, the 
candidate whom they preferred, were not returned to the 
House, it is equally true, that the sinte of the contest as it 
presented itself htre to me, had never beeii considered, dis- 
eussed, and decided by the people of Kentucky, in their 
collective capacity. What would have been their decision 
on this tiew slate of the question, I uii^ht have undertalien 
to conjecture, but the certainty of any conclusion of tact, 
as to their opinion, at which I could arrive, was by no means 
equal to that certainty of conviction of my duty to which I 
was carried by the exertion of my l>est and most deliberate 
reflections. The letters from home, which some of the de- 
legation received, expressed the nrost opposite opinions, and 
there were not wanting instances of letters from some of 
the very members who had voted for the resolution, advis- 
ing a different course. I received from a highly respecta- 
ble portion of my constituents a paper, instructing me a? 
follows: "We, the undersigned voters in the Congression. 
al district, having viewed the instruction or request of the 
Legislature of Kentucky, on the subject of choosing a Pre- 
sident and Vice-President of the United States, with rei:ret, 
and the said request or instruction to our npresentative in 
Congress from this district, being without our knowledge or 
consent ; we for many reasons known to ourselves, con- 
nected with so momentous an occasion, hereby inslructom 
lepresentative in Congress to vole on this occasion agnea- 
ble to his own judgment, and by the best lights he m^ 



21 

iiavc on the Mibjec*, with, or witliout, llie consent of ihe 
Legislature of Kentucky." Tliis instiuction came both un- 
expected aiiJ unsolicited by nic, and it was accomiianied 
by letters assuring me, tbat it expressed the opinion of a 
niojuiity of my constituents. I could not therefore regard 
the resolution as conclusive eviilcncc of your wishes. 

Viewed as a mere reque-t, as it purported to be, the Ge- 
neral As-tmbly doubtless bad the (lovver to make it. But 
then, with sreat deierence, 1 think it was worthy of serious 
consideration whether the dignity of the General Assembly 
ought not to have induced it to forbear addressing itself, 
not tu another legislative body, but to a small part of it, 
and requesting the members who composed that part, in a 
case which the constitution had coutided to them, to vote 
according to the wishes of the General Assembly, whether 
those wishes did or did not conform to their sense of duty. 
[ could not regard the resolution as an Instruction ; for, 
from the origin of our Slate, its legislature has never assum- 
ed nor exercised the right to instruct the Representatives In 
Congress. I did not recognise, the right, therefore, of the 
Legislature to in^truct me. I recognised that right only 
when exerted by you. That the portjon of the public ser- 
vants who made up the General Assembly have no right to 
instruct that portion of tliem who constituted the Ken- 
tucky delegatioa in the House of Representatives, is a pro- 
position too clear to be argued. The members of the Ge- 
neral Assembly would have been the first to behold as a 
piesuniptiious interposition, any insstruction, if the Ken- 
tucky delegation coulil have committed the absurdity tn 
issue, from this place, any instruction to them to vote In a 
particular maimer on any of the irtteresting subjects which 
lately engaged their attention at Frankfort. And although 
nothing is further from my intention than to impute either 
absurdity or presumption to the General Assembly, in the 
adoption of the resolution referred tn, I must say that the 
difference between an instruction emaualing from them to 



22 

the delegation, and from the delegation to them, is not in 
principle, but is to be found only in the degree of superior 
iiTipoilance which belongs to the General Assembly. 

Eiiteitaining these viewg of the election on which it was 
made my duty to vote, I felt myselt" bound, in the exer- 
cise of my best judgment, to prefer Mr. Adams ; and I ac- 
cordingly voted for him. I should have been highly grati- 
fied if It had not been my duty to vote on the occasion; but 
that was not my situation, and I did not choose to shrink 
fi'oai any responsibility which appertained to j'our Repte- 
sentative. Shortly after the election, it was runioied that 
Mr. Kremer was preparing a publication, and the prepara- 
tions for it which were making excited much expectation. 
Accordingly, on the 26ih of February, the address, under 
his name, to the " Electors of the ninth Congressional Dis- 
trict of the State of Pennsylvania," made its appearance 
in the Washington City Gazette, No member of the House, 
I am persuaded, believed that Mr. Kremer wrote one pa* 
ragraph of that address, or of the plea, which was present- 
ed to the. committee, to the jurisdiction of the House. Those 
who counselled him, and composed both pa^iers, and their 
purposes, were just as welt known as the author of any 
report from a committee to the House. The first ob- 
servation which is called for by the address is the place 
of its publication. That place was in this City, remote 
from the centre of Pennsylvania, near which Mr. Kremer's 
district is situated, and in a paper having but a veiy li- 
mited, if any, circulation in it. The time is also remarka- i 
ble. The fact that the President intended to nominate 
me to the Senate for the ofiice which I now hold, in the 
course of a few days, was then well known ; and the pub- I 
licatiou of the address was, no doubt, made less with anji 
THtention to communicate information to the electors of tlie| 
iiintli Congressional District of Pennsylvania, than to iiffect] 
liie decision of the Scuute on the iniended nominfttion, Oi| 



23 

lh« character and contents of that address of Messrs. Geoige 
Kremer Sc Co. madi; up, as it is, of assertion without proof, 
of inftMences without premises, and of careless, jocose, and 
quizzing conversations of s^nie of my friends, to which I 
was no part}', and of which I liad never heard, it is not 
my intention to say mucli. It carried its own refutation, 
and ilift parties concerned saw its abortive nature the next 
day in the indignant countenance of every uJiprejudiced 
and honorable member. In his card, Mr. Kremer had 
been made to say, that he held himself ready " io prove, to 
the satisfaction of unprejudiced minds, enough to satisfy 
them of the accuracy of the statements which are contain- 
ed in that letter, to the extent tkut they concern the course 
of conduct of H. Clai/ " The object for excluding my 
friends from this pledge has been noticed. But now the 
election was decided, and there no longer existed a motive 
for discriminating between them and me. Hence the only 
statements that are made, in the address, having the sem» 
blance of proof, relate rather to them tlian to me; and the 
design was, by establishing something like facts upon them, 
to make those facts re-act upon me. 

Of the few topics of the address upon which I shall re- 
mark, tlie first is, the accusation, brought forward against 
lue, of violating instructions. If the accusation were true, 
wiio was the party oflended, and to whom was I amenable? 
If I violated any instructions, they must have been yours, 
since you onlj had the right to give them, and to you alone 
was I responsible. Without allowing hardly time for you 
to hear of my vote, without waiting to know what your 
judgment was of my cooduct, George Kremer 6c Co. chose 
t^o arraign me before the American public as the violater 
of instructions which I was bound to obey. If, instead of 
being, as you are, and I hope always will be, vigil^t ob- * 
servers of the conduct of your public agents, jealous of 
your rights, and coippetent to protect and defend then). 



24 

you had been ignorant and culpably confiding, the gialu . 
itous interposition, as your advocate, of tlie honorable 
George Kreiner, of the ninth Congressional district in Penn- 
sylvania, would have merited your most grateful acknow- 
ledgments. Even upon that supposition, his arraignment 
of me would have required for its support one small cir- 
cumstance, which liappens not to exist, and thut is, the 
/ac; of your having actually instructed me to vote accord- 
ing to his pleasure, 

Tlic relations in which I stood to Mr. Adams constitute 
the next theme of the address, which I shall notice. I am 
described as haviiig assumed '* a position of peculiar and 
decided hostility to the election of .Mr. Adams," and ex- 
pressions towards him are attributed to me, which I never 
used. I am made also responsible for " pamphlets and es- 
says of great ability," published by my friends in Kentucky, 
in the course of the canvass. The injustice of the princi- 
ple of holding me thus answerable, may be tested by ap- 
plying it to the case of General Jackson, in reference to 
publications issued, for example, from the Columbian 
Observer. That 1 was not in favour of tlie election of 
Mr. Adams, when the contest was before the people, is most 
certain. Neither was I in favour of that of Mr. Crawford 
or General Jackson. That I ever did any thing against 
Mr. Adams, or either of the other gentlemen, inconsis- 
tent with a fair and honorable competition, 1 utterly deny. 
My relations to Mr. Adams have been the subject of much 
misconception, if not misrepresentation. I have been stat- 
ed to be under a public pledge to expose some nefarious 
conduct of that gentleman, during the negotiation at Ghent; 
which would prove him to be entirely unwortiiy of public 
confidence ; and tliat, with a knowledge of his perfidy, I, 
nevertmless, voted for him. If these imputations are well 
founded, I should, indeed, be a fit object for public censure; 
but ifj on the contrary, it shall be found that others, ini- 



inical both to liim and to me, have substituted llie'irown in- 
xerested wishes for my public promises, I trust that the in- 
dignation, wliich thpy would excite, will be turn<d from me. 
Wy letter, addressed to the Editors of the Intelligencer, 
under date <if the l5th November, !82'2, is made the occa- 
sion for ascribing to me the promise and the pledge to make 
those treasonable disclosures on Mr. Adams. Let that let- 
ter speak for itself, and it will be seen how little juslifica- 
. tion there is for such an assertion. It adverts to the contro- 
versy which had arisen between Messrs. Adams and Rus- 
sell, and then proceeds to state that, " in the course of the 
several publications, of which it has been the occasion, and, 
particularly, in the appendix to a pamphlet which had been 
recently published by the Hon. John Quincy Adams, I think 
there are some errors (no doubt iminlenlional) both as to 
matters of fact and matters of opinion, in regard to the 
transactions at Ghent, relating to the navigation of the 
Mississippi, and certain liberties claimed by the United 
States in the Fisheries, and to Ike part which I bore in those 
transactions. These important interests are nowwell secured'' 

**An account, therefore, of what occurred in thenegocia- 

tion at Ghent, on those Iwo subjects, is not, perhaps, neces- 
sary to the present or future security of any of the rights 
of the nation, and is on/y interesting as appertaining to its 
^asihistory. With these impressions, and being extremely 
unwilling to present myself, at any time, before the public, 
I had almost resolved to remain silent, and thus expose ray- 
self to the inference of an acquiescence in the correctness 
of all the statements made by both my colleagues; but I 
have, on more reflection, thought it may be expected of 
ine, and be considered as a duty on my part, to contribute 
all in my power towards a full and faithful understanding 
of the transactions referred to. Under this conviction, I 
will, at some future period, more propitious than the pre- 
sent to calm and dispassionate consideration, and whej: 



26 

tlicte can be no misinterptetation of motives, lay before 
the public a uarrative of Jhose transactions, as I under- 
stood them." 

From even a careless perusal of that letter, it is 
apparent, that the only two subjects of the negoci- 
tions at fJhent to which it refers, were the navigation of 
the Mississippi and certain fishing liberties; that the er- 
rors, which I had supposed were committed, applied to 
both Mr. Russell and Mr. Adams, though more particu- 
larly to the appendix of the latter ; that they were uninten- 
tional ; that they affected myself principally ; that I deem- 
ed them of no public importance, as connected with the 
then, or future security of any of the rights of the nation, 
But only interesting to its past history ; that I doubted the 
necessity of my offering to the public any account of those 
transactions ; and that the narrative which I promised 
was to be presented at a season of more calm, and when 
there could be no misinterpretation of motives. Although 
Mr. Adams believes otherwise, I yet think there are some 
unintentional errors, in the controversial papers between 
Mm and Mr. Russell. But I have reserved to myself an 
exclusive right of judging when I shall execute the promise 
Which I have made, and I shall be neither quickened nor 
retarded in its performance, by the friendly anxieties of 
any of my opponents. 

If injury accrue to any one by the delay in publishing 
the narrative, the public will not suffer by it. It is already 
known by the publication of the British and American pro- 
jets, the protocols, and the correspondence between the re- 
spective plenipotentiaries, that the British government made 
at Ghent a demand of the navigation of the Mississippi, by 
an article in their projet nearly in the same words as those 
which were employed in the treaty of 1783 ; that a majo- 
rity of the American commissioners was in favour of ac- 
ceding to that demand, upon the condition that the Britisli 



27 

gOTcrament would concede to us the same fishing liberties, 
within tlieir jurisdiction, as were secured to us by the same 
treaty of 1783; and that both demands were finally aban- 
doned. The fact of these mutual propositions was commu- 
nicated by me to the American public in a speech which t 
delitered in the House of Representatives, on the 29th day 
of January, 1816. Mr. Hopkinsnn had arraigned the lerms 
of the treaty of peace, and charged upon the War and the 
Administration, the loss of the fishing liberties, within the 
British jurisdiction, which we enjoyed prior to the war. In 
vindicating, in my reply to him, the course of the govern- 
ment and the conditions of the peace, I stated : — 

" When the British Commissioners demanded, in their 
projet, a renewal to Great Britain of the right to the navi- 
gation of the Mississippi, secured hy the treaty of 1783, a 
bare majority of the American Commissioners offered to re- 
new it, upon the condition that the liberties in question were 
renewed to us. He was not one of that majority. He 
would not trouble the Committee with his reasons for being 
opposed to the offer. A majority of his colleagues, actua- 
ted he believed by the best motives, made, however, the offer, 
and it was refused by the British Commissioners."' 

[See Daili/ Nat. Intelligencer, oftheilst March, 1816. 
And what I thought of my colleagues of the majority, ap- 
pears from the same extract. The spring after the termi- 
nation of the negotiations at Ghent, I went to London, and 
there entered upon a new and highly important negotia- 
tion with two of them, (Messrs. Adams and Gallatin,) 
which resulted, on the 3d July, 1815, in the Commercial 
Convention, which has been since made the basis of most 
of our commercial arrangements with foreign powers. Now, 
if I had discovered at Ghent, as has been asserted, that 
either of them was false and faithless to his country, would 
1 have voluntarily commenced with them anotlier negotia- 
tion.' Further: there never has been a period, during our 



niiole autiUainUncc, that Sir. Adams and I have not ex- 
changed when we have met, friendly salutations, and the 
•ourtesies and hospitalities of social intercourse. 

The address proceeds to characterize the support which I 
jave to Mr. Adams as unnatural. The authors of the ad- 
dress have not stated why it is unnatural, and we are there- 
lore left to conjecture their meaning. Is it because Mr. 
Adams is from New-England, and I am a citizen of the 
West? If it be unnatural in the Western States to support 
a citizen of New-Enjlaud, it must be equally unuatural 
in the New- England States to support a citizen of the West, 
And, on the same principle, the New-England States ought 
to be restrained from concurring in the election of a citizen 
in the Southern Slates, or the Southern States from cn-ope- 
rating in the election of a citizen of New-England. And, 
consequently, the support which the last three Presidents 
liave derived from New-England, anil that which the Vice- 
President recently received, has been most unnaturally giv- 
en. Tiie tendency of such reasoning would be to dena- 
tionalize us, and to contract every part of the Union with- 
in the narrow selfish limits of its own section. It would 
be still worse : it wouU lead to the destruction of the 
Union itself. For if it be unnatural in one section to sup- 
port a citizen in another, the Union itself must be unnatu- 
ral ; all our ties; all onr glories; all that is animating in 
the past; all that is bright and cheering in the future, must 
be unnatural. Happily, such is the admirable te.xture of 
our Union, that the interests of all its parts are closely in- 
terwoven. If there are strong points of alfinity between 
the South and the West, there are interests of not less, if 
not greal-er, strength and vigour, binding the West, and tin: 
North, and the East. 

Before I close this address, it is my duty, which I pro- 
ceed to perforin with great regret, on account of the occa- 
sion which calls for it, to invite your attention to a letteii 



atlclressed by Gen. Jackson to Mr. Swartwoiit, on the 23d 
Feb. last. The names of both tlie General and myself had 
been before the American public, for its highest office. We 
had both been unsuccessful. The unfortunate liave usual- 
ly some sympathy for each other. For myself', I claim no 
merit for the cheerful acquiescence which I have given in a 
result by which I was excluded from the House. I have 
believed that the decision by the constituted author! ties, in 
favour of others, baa been founded upon a conviction of 
the superioritj- of their pretensions. It has been my habit, 
when an election is once decided, to forget, as soon as pos- 
sible, all the irritating circumstances which attended the 
preceding canvass. If one be successful, he should be con- 
tent v.ith his success. If he have lost it, railing will do no 
good. I never gave Geneial Jackson nor his friends any 
reason to b-lieve that I would, in nny contingency, support 
him. He had, as I thought, no public claim, and I will now 
add, no personal claims, if these ought to be ever consider- 
ed, to my support. No one, therefore, ought to have been 
disappointed or chagrined that I did not vote for him. No 
nioie than I was neither surprised nor disappointed, that he 
did nut, on a more recent occasion, feel it to be his duty to 
vote for me. After commenting upon a particular phrase 
used in my letter to Judge Brooke, a cahn reconsideration 
of which will, I think, satisfy any person that it was not 
employed in an oftensive sense, if indeed it have an offensive 
sense, the General, in his letter to Mr Swartwuut, proceeds 
to remark, " No one beheld me seeking through art or ma- 
nagement to entice any representative in Congress from a 
conscientious responsibility to his own, or the wishes of his 
constituents. No midnight taper burnt by me; no secret 
conclaves were held, nor cabals entered into to persuade 
any one to a violation of pledges given, or of instructions 
received. By me no plans were concerted to impair the 
pure principles of our republican institutions, nor to pros- 

*3 



30 

frate that fundamental maxim which maiinaiiis the supt e - 
■lacy of the people's will. On the contrary, having never ia 
any manner before the people or Congress interfered in the 
slightest degree with the question, ray conscience stands 
void of offence, and will go quietly with me, regardless of 
the insinuations of those who, through management, may 
seelt an influence not sanctioned by integrity and merit."— 
1 am not aware that this defence of himself was rendered 
necessary by any charges brought forward against the Ge- 
neral. Certainly I never made any such charges against him. 
I will not suppose that in the passages cited, he intended to 
impute to me the misconduct which he describes; and yet, 
taking the whole context of his letter together, and coup- 
ling it with Mr. Kremer's address, it cannot be disguised 
that others may suppose he intended to refer to me. I am 
quite sure that if he did, he coul.l not have formed those 
unfavourable opinions of me upon any personal observa- 
tion of my conduct made by himself; for, a supposition that 
they were founded upon his own knowledge, would imply 
that my lodgings and my person had been subjected to a 
system of espionage wholly incompatible with the open, 
manly, and honourable conduct of a gallant soldier. If he 
designed any insinuations against me, I mtist believe that 
he made tliem upon the information of others, of whom I 
can only say, that they have deceived his credulity, and 
are entirely unworthy of all credit. I entered into no ca- 
bals; I held no secret conclaves; I enticed no man to violate 
pledges given or instructions received. The members from O- 
hio and from the other Western States, with whom ] voted, 
were all of them as competent as I was to form an opi- 
nion on tire pending election. The M' Arthurs and the Met- 
calfes, and the other gentlemen from the West (some of 
whom have, if I have not, bravely " made an etfort to re- 
pel an invading foe") are as incapable of dishonor as any 
men breathing ; as disinterested, as unambitious, as en- 



<1 1 

ol 

^lusirely devoted to the best interests of their couDlry, It 
was quile as likely that I should be influenced by ihem, as 
that I could control their voles. Our object vras not to im- 
pair, hut to preserve from all danger, the purity of our re- 
publican institutions. And how I prostrated the maxim 
which maintains the supremacy of the people's will, I am 
entirely at a loss to comprehend. The illusions of the Ge- 
neral's imagination deceive him. T/ie peo;>(e of the United 
States had never decided the election iu his favour. If the 
people had willed his election, he would have been elected. 
It was because they had not willed his election, not that of 
any other candidate, that the duty of making a choice de- 
volved on tho House of Representatives. 

The General remarks : " Mr. Clay has never yet risked 
himself for his country. He has never saoriBced his repose, 
nur made an efTort to repel an invading foe; of course, his 
conscience assured him it was altogether wrong in aivy other 
man to lead his couulrymen to battle and victory." The 
logic of this conclusion is not very striking. Gen. Jackson 
fights better than he reasons. When have I failed lo con- 
cur in awarding appropriate honours to those who on the 
sea or on the land have sustamed the glory of our arms, 
if I could not always approve of the acts of some of them? 
It is true, that it has been my misfortune never to have 
repelled an invading foe, nor to have led my conntrymen 
to victory. If I had, I should have left to others to pro- 
claim and appreciate the deed. The General's destiny and 
mine have led us in (liff..rent directions. In the civil em- 
ployments of my country, to which I have been confined, 
I regret that the little service which I have been able to 
render it, falls far shoit of my wishes. But, why this de- 
nunciation of those who have not repelled an invading foe, 
or led our armies to victory? At the very moment when 
be is inveighing against an objection to the election to the 
Presidency, founded upon the exclusive military nature of 
his merits, does he not percsive that he is establishing Us 



32 

Talidity by prosciibiiig every man who has not success- 
fully t(.iii;ht the public enemy ? And that, by snch a gene- 
ral pi-'jsciiplion, ami the lequiieaiciit of successful iiiililaiy 
seiv.CH as the only condition o( civil prelerinent, the in- 
evitable effect would be the ultimate establishment of a Mi- 
litaiy Government } 

If the contents of the letter to Mr. Swanwout were 
such as justly lo excite surprise, there were other circum- 
stances not calculated to diminish it. Of all the citizens 
of the United States, that gentleman is one of the last to 
whom it was necessary to address any vindication of Gen. 
Jackson. He had given abundant evidence of his entire 
devoiinn to the cause of the General. He was here after 
the election, and was one of a committee wno invited 
the General lo a public dinner, proposed to be given to him 
in this place. My letter lo Judge Brooke was published 
in the papers of this City on the 12[h of Ftbruary. The 
General's note declining i he invitation of Mr. Swartwout 
and others was published on the 14lh in the National Jour- 
nal. The probability therefore is, that he did not leave 
this City until after he had a full opportunity to receive, in 
a persona! interview with the General, any verbal obser- 
vations upon it which he might have thought proper to 
make. Tlie letter to iMr. Swartwout bears date the 23d of 
February. If received by him in New- York, it must havs 
veached him, in the ordinary course of the mail, on the 
25th or 26th. Whether intended or not as a " private 
communication,'' and not for the " public eye," as alleged 
by him, there is much probability in believing that its pub- 
lication in New-York, on the 4th March, was then made, 
like Mr. Kremer's address, with the view to its arrival in 
thisCity in time to affect my nomination to Ihe Senate. In 
point of fact, it reached here the day before the Senate 
acted on that nomination. 
Fellow-citizens, I am sensible that generally a public 



«(Iicer had better abstain from any vintlication of his con- 
Juct, andVaveilto llie candor and justice of liis country- 
men, under all '.ts attending circumstances. Such has been 
the course which 1 iiave heretofore prescribed to myself. 
This is the first, as I ho-,e it may be the last, occasion of 
my thus appearing before yo=. The separation which has 
just taken place between us, ai.-i the venom, if not the 
vigor, of the late onsets upon my p.vi)lic conduct, will, I 
hope, be allowed in this instance to form e,., adequate apo- 
logy. It has been upwards of twenty years i'mce I first 
entered the public servtce. Nearly three fourths ^f tljat 
time, with some intermisstons, I have represented the sa^ne 
district in Congress, with but little variation in its form. 
During that long period, you have beheld our country 
passing through scenes of peace and war, of prosperity and 
adversity, and of party divisions, local and general, often 
greatly exasperated against each other. I have been an 
actor in most of those scenes. Throughout the whole of 
them you have clung to me with an aftectionate confidence 
which has never been surpassed. 1 have found in your at- 
tachment, in evi;ry embarrassment in my public career, 
the greatest consolation, and the most encouraging support. 
I should regard the loss of it as one of the most afflicting 
public misfortunes which coulil befal me. That I have 
often misconceived your true interests is highly probable. 
That 1 have ever sacrificed them to the object of personal 
aggrandizen.ent I utterly deny. And for the purity of my 
motives, however in other respects I may be unworthy to 
approach the Throne of Grace and Mercy, I appeal to the 
justice of my God, with all the confidence which can flow 
from a consciousness of perfect rectitude. 
Your obedient servant, 

H, CLAY. 

Washington, 2&lh March, 18'J5. 



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